Dominion - Homebrew + You
There's a lot of custom content and homebrew tied into the realm. Below are a few such mechanics and fun things you can expect!
Background Proficiency (Your character can have a hobby)
A reward for good background development, It allows a player to take advantage of a certain task that may be rarely used or directly related to their character. For example if your character is a heavy drinker they can take advantage on rolls involving drinking contests etc. Background Proficiency is designed for roleplaying purposes and not to break systems in game and are typically associated with a past time, hobby or skill that is minor and not categorized like a tool or equipment proficiency is. A Character can only have one of these and to use them is the player's choice.
Example Background Proficiencies
| Heavy Drinker - Advantage on rolls involving alcohol consumption. |
| Lead Belly - Advantage on rolls involving eating substandard foods. |
| Vocalist - Advantage on rolls involving singing. |
| Dancer - Advantage on rolls involving dancing. |
| Angler - Advantage on rolls involving fishing. |
| Artist - Advantage on rolls when drawing / painting / etc. |
| Lover - Advantage on rolls when… you know. |
Players can come up with their own and submit them to the DM when the characters are being made. Afterward these traits won't be available anymore.
Positive and Negative Traits (Enhanced Situational Roleplay Mechanic)
The powerful force in Mystas known as “The Veil” corrupts and changes things as it moves through this ultra magical land. Sometimes when you visit areas where The Veil enters the material plain, you are also affected by this chaotic magic. You can gain positive traits that give advantage in certain situations, or gain a negative trait that will give you disadvantages. These can be cured in a number of ways in Dominion, but doing so purges ALL of your traits, even good ones. Traits are tied together and gaining three positive or negative traits will cause them to evolve into a more powerful one, called Blessed and Cursed traits. These traits can be cured but require a powerful ritual to remove.
This system is based on Darkest Dungeon and functions similarly.
Ultra Magical Setting
When the Veil pierced into Mystas, it created a world where Magical energy is present almost everywhere. This had a few core effects that affect gameplay.
| Magical Items are abundant in Dominion and the rest of the realm of Mystas, some being held by important characters, while others can be found just about anywhere. |
| Technology is more advanced but not absolutely. For example Valoren is much more advanced than Gurt. |
| You can become infected by certain conditions in Veil affected areas, developing random traits. |
| Certain characters called Keepers inherit incredible power from the Veil and ascend to near god-hood. |
Factional Morality
There are many factions and organizations in Dominion, and interacting with some may polarize you against others. Choosing to side with one group of people may make others dislike you, or even create unique encounters where they may take actions against the party. While this is standard practice in DND in general, it is Homebrew because of how it is tracked and managed, and you may not even know the faction you have angered until it is too late.
Custom Encounter Tables (Let the randomness flow through you)
From looting to sleeping, traveling to exploring. If you're in Dominion, there's an encounter table for anything you do. Custom tables have been created to generate loot in clutter and chests, throw quick adventures at the party in slow times, manage trader and NPC inventories, grant you extraordinary luck at times, build hazardous encounters, and there's even a list of random funny things that can occur! Randomness is a big part of Dominion, and not seeing what's coming is part of the fun.
Player Lineage (How you affected the world)
Unfortunately sometimes characters die in DND, but that isn't the end when you die in Dominion. Here you gain Lineage on death, and Lineage is how your character changed the world around them for good or for evil. The DM tracks the outcome of quests and encounters and any major ones are cataloged as to how your character will be remembered for their actions at the end of each session. When you die in Dominion, your Lineage is read aloud, and you learn of any children you had, how you touched the lives of NPCs and how major factions and places will remember you. It's designed to shed light on your characters and make them feel important, because they are.
Custom Content
Lots of custom content exists in Dominion. Most of these are Magic items created for use in the Campaign. Some are silly fun items that I created to cause havoc, some are useful and tied to mechanics in the game, or just things I felt were missing from DND. The NPC's are goofy, the items are crazy, and the gods are mad. Pretty much everything in Dominion is handmade, homebrew or just for fun.
Battles and War Encounters
Dominion is in a state of turmoil and open war when the campaign begins. If the players chose to enter a battle or participate in wars, special rules are used for combat.
Initiative in battles is waged between armies with the players also rolling for their moves as well. The enemy faction rolls initiative as a block and moves on their turn to establish a goal. The allies of the players also function in this manner and roll a single initiative.
| Enemy block |
all enemy minions in the combat area move on this initiative. |
| Allied block |
any allies of the players move as a unit on this turn. |
| Artillery block |
allied or enemy artillery attacks on this block. |
The 4e rules on minions are applied to all monsters in war modes, with exception being placed on captains and commanders. All minions have 1-5hp and exist only to attempt to damage or flank. Commanders and Captains lead the groups and have regular HP amounts set to level scales. Minions use the enemy block initiative and attack or move on that turn while Commanders and Captains have their own initiatives.
Artillery, be it enemy or allied, rolls its own initiative. On its turn artillery has set AOE effects that damage lines of squares or radiuses up to a max of 30ft. Artillery rolls dice for accuracy and on critical fails can roll for damaging party members or potential self destruction.
The DM can place enemies or ambushes in hidden locations during the battle. These attacks occur instantaneously but allow for player reactions. After the surprise any living enemy units are added to the enemy block initiative unless they include higher ranking members like captains and commanders.
Battles need objectives. Cross a combat line, capture a base, clear out an enemy force, defend from invaders, etc.
Artillery Types
| Rain of Arrows |
| Arrows rain down on a 5ft by 30ft rectangular space dealing 1d10 piercing to anyone in that line that fails a dex save of DC12. |
| Fireball Mortar |
| A fireball is cast on the battlefield in a 30ft radius explosion dealing 2d20 fire damage to anyone who fails a DC14 dex save. If you are within 5ft of the point of impact the save is DC18. |
| Rolling Stone |
| A large stone projectile fired from a catapult crashes into a 20x5ft line rolling over anything that fails a DC12 dex save dealing 2d8 force damage and knocking anyone hit prone. |
| Reinforce |
| A battalion joins the fight bringing 1 captain and 1d5 minions. |
| Magic Missile Barrage |
| 1d6 enemies are targeted by magic missiles dealing 1d4+1 force damage. |
| Chemical warfare |
| A chemical agent is lobbed at enemies causing a 20ft radial chemical effect and is determined by a 1d5 roll. Roll to avoid with a DC12 dex save or take an effect from the types listed below: |
| Poison Gas |
1d6 poison damage. |
| Tear Gas |
Blinded for 1d3 Turns. |
| Chloroform |
Pass out on failed save, re-roll DC10 CON until passed. |
| Oil Bomb |
If hit by fire, catch fire and take 1d4 fire damage per turn. |
| Acidic Agent |
If armored lose 2AC until armor is repaired, if unarmored, take 1d10 acid damage. |
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